Crybaby
by Lovex1
Summary: "I'll be stronger! When we are big kids, I'll be the strongest!" The last words said by Lucy Heartfilia to her childhood friends before disappearing 9 years ago. What happens when the innocent and virtuous Lucy, known as "the Crybaby," returns nearly a decade later? Will she of kept her promise? And if she did, what if it wasn't what they expected?
1. Chapter 1: The Day there were 10

CHAPTER 1

_The Day there were 10_

_ Fear._

_ That's the only emotion I can remember from my childhood. _

A loud, horrid scream shook the hallways of Magnolia Elementary, located within the worst areas of the city. Teachers simply sat in their rooms, not having the time to deal with delinquent children and their fights as other students ignored the noise, accustom to such chilling cries for help.

Three girls stood over the small, bleeding Lucy Heartfilia, scratching and pummeling the weak child's pale skin in the corner of the corridor. The blonde sobbed, gasping for air through her screams as she struggled to escape. Minerva kicked her in the head, slamming Lucy's body against the wall. The trio laughed wickedly at the ugly bruises covering Lucy's face and the blood smearing her once beautiful skin.

"S…" She coughed, wiping her mouth with her small hands, "S-Stop."

"Oh c'mon!" Angel cackled nearing the timid victim's face with a twisted smile, "We're just practicing! Y'know, the big kids in high school are a lot stronger. They even use weapons."

Lisanna snickered cruelly, folding her arms, "Yeah. We're almost in Middle School! We need to practice our skills on _something_."

Minerva shoved her forehead into Lucy's forehead as the nearly-unconscious 8-year old panted, tears pouring down her scratched up cheeks. "You should be thanking me. At least we can make a little cry-baby like you useful!" She sighed, removing her foot from her forehead, letting Lucy's head droop down. "What do the Fairies see in _you_?" A slight agitation erupted in the 3rd grader's eyes at the sentence, "Crybabies don't deserve friends. You can't even fight! What good are you to anyone here?"

Lucy swallowed, attempting to wobble to a stand before feeling her legs give out and fall back into a curled up position.

_Pain. That was a feeling I felt everyday. And hate. So much fucking hate._

"No matter what we do, you don't even fight back!" Angel hissed, grabbing a fist full of Lucy's gorgeous, blonde hair. "God, it's so annoying! Even dogs fight back if you kick them around! You're more pathetic than a pet!"

"You should do your friends a favor and just disappear." Lisanna growled, bending down to glare into Lucy's eye level, "You're just causing Natsu and my sister problems. _Everyone _here hates you. Do you get what a damper on their reputation you'll put on them once we get older? The Fairies are strong and cool! And they're gonna be _super _good when we're older! You'll drag them down!" She hissed darkly, "How _dare _you think you are their friend! All you do is cry!"

"Damn crybaby!" Minerva kicked the held-in place head once more, "If you promise not to bother them, we won't touch you. "

"B.." Lucy desperately struggled out a weak voice, barely able to keep her eyes open, "… They're… my friends."

"Shut up!" Minerva shouted loudly, "Only super strong people can be their friend! Not stupid girls like you! Not freaking crybabies! Are you kidding me!? You're just a punching bag! They're just too damn blind to see that yet." The raven haired girl hissed lowly, "And it's our job to clean up the trash before you start stinking them up."

_In this shit town, gangs infested the streets, so much so that gangs basically ran the cities. It infested the schools too. To the point where the main goal wasn't a wealthy job or to have a career, it was to be in a top tier gang. Or if you were really good, you could find yourself in a internationally-feared mafia. _

_ Elementary School was where it started. We'd see the awesome High Schoolers beating up some kid on the side of the street on our way home. Or they'd be smoking and chilling next to their motorcycles. And we would aspire to be like them. There weren't jocks or any cheerleaders. Only the gang kids were the cool ones. _

_ School worked like natural selection._

_ Elementary School was the place where students first took notice to the Alphas in our class. The natural-born leaders and gangsters. They usually were given a name and pretty much stuck with it till graduation. These kids were pretty much set for their whole life. From first grade to senior year, the kids treat them like kings and when they graduate, they have gangs lining up for them to join._

The Fall breeze blew through the tall cherry blossom trees hovering over the green hill where ten 3rd graders sat during their awaited Lunch. In this circle of children, existed a world unreachable to outsiders. A friendship unattainable to those who stood outside of this group of young individuals.

_The natural-born gangsters of my year were known as the Fairies._

_ I was fortunate enough to befriend them all before Elementary School. We all pretty much lived in the same area. _

_ But once school came along, it was clear… they were very different from me. _

Cana leaned back, sipping her fifth juice box until it was completely empty. Slowly, her gaze wandered to Gray who sat beside her, munching on a brownie Juvia made for him. Chuckling, the brunette slammed her empty drink into the raven-haired boys head, ripping the treat out from his mouth.

"What the hell?!" The small, prepubescent voice of Gray screamed angrily at the bratty girl who sat laughing, finishing his brownie.

Cana stood up proudly, raising her chin as though she were some Queen, "Don't speak to me like that, stuuupid! I am three months older than you!"

Watching the scene, Erza stood up with a scolding frown, "Don't be mean Cana." She shook her head with a sophisticated glow surrounding her, "Mama says violence is never the answer!"

The brunette rolled her eyes mouthing Erza's voice with a mocking expression. Viewing the crimson-haired peacemaker, Mira grew a deep mischievous grin eyeing the cake Erza was holding. Without even a thought of hesitation, the silver-haired devil slammed her palm into Erza's plate, causing the cake to go flying into Jellal's face. "Oh no." The blue-haired male spoke, tasting the frosting.

The red head blinked for a few moments, feeling her hands become suddenly light. She squeezed the air, realizing her precious dessert was no longer there and slowly looked up with a mortified expression as her sweet was melted onto Jellal's face. "You..." An enraged glow flared in her eyes, "MURDERER!" She screamed, tackling Mira as everything she spouted about "violence" went down the drain.

Natsu bursted out in laughter as the two girls rolled around the grass, biting and scratching. Laxus rolled his eyes, prying Mira out from underneath Erza as Jellal did the same to the crimson haired beast. The onyx-eyed boy leaned over Jellal's shoulder, swiping a finger-full of frosting and popping it into his mouth. His eyes glowed, "That's good!" Natsu chuckled.

_We'd been together since Preschool, completely inseparable. Each of us knew each other like the backs of our own hands. There was nobody in this universe that understood each other better._

Trying to block out the obnoxious activity, Levy focused on her small book - originally meant for a high schooler's reading level. A line of frustration formed on her forehead as she focused on one of the sentences but, before she could finish it, the novel was suddenly ripped out from underneath her. Her eyes snapped up in irritation, seeing Gajeel holding the item up in the air, staring at it as though it were some disgusting foreign item.

"Give it back!" She hissed, reaching up to grab it though, the length of his arm was much higher than she could stretch.

"You're never gonna have pretty girls fallin over ya if you keep teasing them." Gray spoke with a grin.

"Take it from me!" Natsu stood proudly, "Dad says imma be the best ladies man when I'm older!"

"Won't that make Lucy cry?" Laxus lifted a brow with a chuckle.

Natsu stood in place and instantly blushed, scratching his cheek, "No way… Lucy's just-"

"Just what?" He heard a sweet voice chime from behind.

All eyes narrowed onto the source and found a beautiful young blonde smiling behind Natsu. The pink haired boy instantly shook away his flustered appearance and buffed up his stance in an attempt to amp up his cool-ness. "We were just fighting."

Lucy pouted at the sentence, "Fighting isn't good." She pulled out a container which they all widened their eyes lustfully at, "Mom says kids who get in fights don't deserve cookies."

"Don't listen to that idiot." Erza creeped up to the sweets like a predator, "We weren't fighting!"

"Yeah! If anything it was friendly biting!" Mira added with a determined nod.

Quickly all the cookies disappeared from the box and Lucy looked down to see her share seemed to be stolen as well. She let out a sigh, not really bothered by it, and started putting her container back into her bag.

Natsu waved a cookie in front of her face and Lucy widened her eyes, looking up to his childish smile. "Saved ya one."

The blonde smiled softly and took it into her own hands. "Thank you."

The pinkette stared at her a little longer, "Did someone bully you again?"

Lucy's skin ran cold at the question, all gazes instantly locking onto her at the question. She pulled down her long sleeves, in fear the bruises on her arms may show. "No… why would you ask?"

"You've got some blood left on your lips." Natsu bent down and poked her cheek, causing the small girl to hiss. "And ya got a massive bruise."

Lucy looked down, smiling despite the sheer worry in her eyes. "I fell again." She laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "It's okay. I cried a little but I'm okay."

Their gazes lingered for a moment longer before sighing and returning to their devouring of the cookies. Natsu sat back onto his bum, "If you they hurt you, we'll go in and beat em up!" He giggled, trying to show off as much muscle as a 3rd grader could have. "When I'm older, I'll be strong enough to beat anyone up! I'll be the strongest guy in the whole school!"

"You'll have to go through me first." Gray spoke.

"No!" Juvia latched onto his arm, "When Gray's older, Gray can only be Juvia's husband! Nothing more!"

Gray hissed at her attachment but before he could respond, Cana's voice took over. "Well, when I grow up, imma have all the good juice! I'll be strong and claim all the vending machines in the school."

"Oh yeah?" Gajeel chuckled, folding his arms, "I'm going to have a bunch o' piercings. Only the coolest guys have em'."

Levy rolled her eyes, finally snatching her books, "Well while you muscle heads are bruising your knuckles, I'm going to be Student Body President. And I'll have the real control."

"As long as you give me access to all the cake, Miss Pres, I'll vote." Erza chuckled.

"Oh! Oh! I call having the biggest boobs!" Mira shouted.

Laxus rolled his eyes at her, "I don't need any plans. We're the Fairies. The end result is we're going to run the school anyway."

"What about you, Luce?" Natsu tilted his head at the giggling blonde, "What goal do you have when we're big kids?"

Lucy blinked at him, taken off guard by the question. She thought for a moment and then just smiled softly, "I want to be your guy's friend."

_Back then there were 11 of us._

The group stared at Lucy and then they all started laughing. "Of course you'd say something so cheesy!" Cana snickered.

Lucy pouted at their mad amount of giggles, "What!"

"Nothing." Natsu wiped a tear from under his eye, "We just all have the same goal." He smiled, "We wanna be your friend too."

_But by the beginning of summer, there were 10._

Laxus let out a sigh, "Tomorrow's the last day of school."

Everyone let out relieved breaths at the statement. Slowly their eyes all went up to the sky, "Will you make us cookies again tomorrow, Luce?" Natsu asked, tilting his head to face the cute girl.

Her face seemed to brighten and she nodded, "Yeah!"

_That night, I remember my parents were arguing over something. They'd been upset for the last several months. I was peeping and dad caught me. But instead of reprimanding me, he told me the situation._

_And it was the worst possible one._

. . .

The lunch bell rang and the Fairies flew out of their seats. They started rushing out of the room as Lucy was preoccupied putting her stuff away. Natsu stopped halfway and noticed his missing blonde best friend. He quickly jogged over to her desk, "C'mon! This is our last lunch as 3rd graders!"

Lucy's face seemed to drain in color at his sentence and she looked down, "I'll be there in a sec."

Natsu leaned in closer, only an inch from her face, "What's wrong?"

The blonde instantly beamed with a smile, "Nothing! I have to get the cookies out. I'll meet you like I did yesterday!"

The amount of glares on Lucy was enormous. To them it was like Natsu was this glowing God, giving all of his attention to this invisible brat. The pink haired boy turned around and waved at the girl, "Okay! See you out there!"

Lucy let out a sigh and looked down to the cookies in her lap. She bit her lip and felt two tears slip out from her eyes. "I don't wanna leave…"

"Oh hey look." Minerva pointed at the quietly crying blonde, "The Crybaby is at it again!"

All eyes instantly went to Lucy and the blonde instantly stiffened, wiping her tears away quickly. Lisanna leaned over her desk with a malicious smile that held only the worst of intent. "I see you're still messing with Natsu." She tapped the wood with a chilling amount of taunt in her voice, "You know, I thought we told you over and over again to stop meddling with all of them!"

"Not just us though." Angel walked over, wrapping her arm around Lucy's shoulders, "This whole class wants you to disappear."

Lucy hiccupped as little sobs escaped her trembling lips. She grabbed onto her skirt, trembling in fear. "… I… I'm going to." She spoke, looking up to Minerva with a stern expression despite the leakage from her eyes. "I'm leaving tomorrow. A-And I'll never have to see you stupid bullies again!"

Minerva lifted her brow, "Stupid! Guys she just said we're stupid!"

Angel slammed her palm into Lucy's cheek, the impact echoing throughout the classroom. "Don't talk down to us! You're the loser stupid!"

The blonde held onto her stinging skin and felt her body become far too overwhelmed, unleashing an enormous amount of tears. "I'm sorry…" She cried, trembling viciously, "Please… stop."

The sobbing minor continuously rubbed her eyes, desperately trying to rid of her pathetic tears. Angel stood beside her, pulling at the poor girl's golden pigtail with a harsh force, "You have gross hair. It looks like mustard!" She grimaced at the touch, "Only crybabies have ugly, yellow hair!"

That caused the lot of immature brats to burst out in an even greater amount of giggles as the wailing reaction from Lucy only got more entertaining. "Stupid ugly crybaby!" Lisanna pulled at the other pigtail, tugging the blonde's head back and forth with a painful amount of strength. "Why do they all like _you_? Especially Natsu! You hogger!"

"Yeah!" The girls in the pack started to scream back as Lucy hiccupped from her uncontrollable blubbering. "Hogger!"

"Crybaby!" Another screamed out.

Minerva grinned at the cruel comments being shouted, feeling the power she had over this crying girl. "Ugly crybabies don't deserve to be their friend!" The raven haired girl leaned in closer, overwhelming the brown-eyed victim. "You hog all of them! Nobody likes a stupid hog!"

Lisanna ground her teeth together, "Natsu doesn't like ugly girls like you! So stop keeping him all to yourself!" Lucy let out a yelp as the aggressive brat yanked at her hair.

"Please..." Lucy gasped for air as her eyes were nearly swollen from her cries, "..Stop."

Midnight leaned back from his chair and grinned at the pleasing bawling of the blonde. "I don't see what they see in you. Dumb girl." Every word he spat... any of them spat, was like a thousand more knives to her already open wounds. "Nobody wants to deal with a weak crybaby. You're just annoying."

Surrounding his words was the chanting mob, screaming out the words, "Lucy the Crybaby! Lucy the Crybaby!" Which had served as her nickname since Kindergarten.

A nefarious smile molded onto Minerva's lips as she reached into her backpack, pulling out a gleaming pair of pink scissors. "Don't worry!" She laughed, "Once we get rid of your nasty mustard hair, you will be pretty like us! But, I don't know how Natsu feels about baldies!"

Lisanna laughed, "Will you find out for us? It's the least you can do for stealing him from the rest of us pretty girls."

Lucy eyes shot open, flinging tears forward at the sight of the weapon, "Stop!" She cried, trying to stand up. Midnight and Cobra immediately reacted, holding her arms down as Minerva slammed her palm into her mouth, silencing the blonde. Hot liquid poured from Lucy's eyes, sliding over the black haired girl's fingers. Her screams were muffled as she tried to escape from their grips. But...

She was just too weak.

Minerva leaned forward with pure enjoyment circling her evil eyes as Lisanna and Angel held out the pigtails. The armed child went towards the silver-haired brat's piece of hair she was holding, hovering the scissors over the golden locks. Lucy shook her head desperately, large tears constantly pouring from her tightly shut eyes.

Instantly, Minerva slammed her fingers down, cutting the pigtail off completely. The heavy amount of strands slowly fell to the ground with the kids behind her glowing with a demonic aura, laughing their horrible guts out.

'I hate you! I HATE YOU!' These were the only words that circled Lucy's mind as they violated her, removing parts of her body - even if it was only just hair.

Before Minerva was able to move her way to the next bundle of hair, she was stalled by the loud opening of the classroom door. Though, that wasn't the thing that completely caught her attention, it was the dead silence that followed. The five children physically harassing the blonde were the last to look up, viewing a familiar pink haired boy.

Lucy was breathing heavily, choking on her sobs as she was still hearing all the taunting even though it was silent. Natsu looked around the room with an intimidatingly dark glow in his eyes, "Where the hell is she?" He spit through his teeth in a low tone.

Slowly, the flock of students split apart to reveal Lucy and her five persecutors. A look of pure rage washed over the terrifying boy as he gazed at the amount of tears still coming from his blonde friend. Then his eyes focused completely on the scene, first aiming towards those holding her arms down, then the girls standing above her, then to Minerva who seemed to be holding a pair of scissors, then... to Lucy's hair, where a pigtail used to stand but now was spread across the floor.

His pupils went small at the unbelievable sight and he balled his fists with a great amount of madness, "I'll kill you!" Natsu screamed, running forward.

The pink haired boy's fist instantly smashed into Midnight's face, throwing the kid out of his seat. The three girls screamed at the scene, instantly removing themselves as Cobra went in for a hit seeing his companion get injured. Quickly, Natsu grabbed onto the impeding fist, throwing a harsh blow to the boy's eye.

As the maroon haired male held onto his eye with a sharp cry, the nine remaining group members ran into the room, pausing as they tried to read the situation. They gazed at Natsu who seemed to be throwing punches left and right. Without even a moment of hesitation, Gray, Laxus, Jellal, and Gray joined the fuming pink-haired beast in a fit of pure anger.

Levy covered her mouth, completely mortified as she focused on Lucy's missing hair. Erza and Mira instantly walked forward, glowing with a demonic essence. The students backed up, sensing the murderous intent of the two girls as they approached the trio of guilty females.

"Who did that to her?" An unreadable frown was placed on Erza's face as she spoke, sending an unbelievable amount of unease down everyone's spines.

Mira looked to her younger sibling, Lisanna, with a gaze of a viscous beast, "Was it you, damn brat?"

Lisanna's eyes watered, threatening with tears as she was overcome with intimidation, "I-I..." She choked on her words, gazing at her terrifying older sister, "... I-I didn't cut it!"

Erza studied Angel who looked as thought she was about to pass out and then turned her gaze to Minerva who stood proudly with a hateful glare. "The crybaby deserved it." She hissed, waving the scissors around as though they were a prize. "Everything about her pisses us off! She cries over everything! If she falls, fails a test, gets insulted, or just taunted a little! And you're telling me you want to stick up for such a stupid, weak thing!?"

Erza slapped Minerva almost instantly, causing the whole place to silence at the loud smack. "So you cut her hair off?" The red head tightened her expression into a look of hostility, "You're the weak one. Fighting with an entire classroom full of kids against one girl."

The raven haired girl bitterly retorted, "She has _you_, right? Why does she get to be a Fairy? A stupid girl like her!?" Minerva growled with pure jealously, "All she does is cry and cry and cry and yet somehow she gets everything we want! Whether its her long hair, her pretty dresses, her stupid pretty face, Natsu, or you guys! The spoiled brat gets anything!"

Mira directly shot her hand out, wrapping around Minerva's wrist, squeezing it so hard that the raven-haired child was forced to drop the scissors. "You think doing this will make us like you?"

Erza's gaze held no sympathy, "So because of your jealousy, you cut off her hair?"

Natsu looked over to Lucy who was still shedding an endless amount of tears. He released the shirt of some boy he was hitting and quickly made his way over to the blonde. "Hey... it's okay." He spoke softly as Erza and Mira seemed to be now screaming at the three girls. "Luce..." The boy's soft voice reached her ears.

Slowly, her eyes opened, viewing a blurry image of her familiar best friend squatting before her. "Natsu..." She whimpered, her lips quivering as she desperately tried to stop her crying - though her effort was for naught.

He pulled onto Lucy's hand, forcing the blonde to her feet. The boys whom were fighting looked to the pink and blonde duo, seeing them walk out the door. "Mira." Laxus called, watching as the enraged silver-haired female turned around. He tilted his head, signaling for them to back out.

One by one, the "Fairies" stepped back from their opponents, giving them all a final glare before exiting the premises. Lisanna fell to her knees with relief as the others stood silent, others tending to their wounds. Children were viscous.

Lucy was led up the hill to their designated hang out spot, underneath the beautiful, pink cherry blossom trees. She continued to snivel along the way, feeling Natsu pulling her forward with his fast footsteps. "Damn it!" His young voice shouted, twirling the small blonde in front of him. Handling her was like handling a small, new born baby, you always had to be calm and kind, speaking with nurturing words.

The blonde winced, slamming her eyes shut as her pink haired friend harshly kicked the tree with an agitated yell. "I-I'm..." She hiccuped, covering her eyes with her arm as she spoke, two rivers of tears smoothing over her red cheeks. "... Sorry."

"You-" He paused himself, realizing his tone was only making the sensitive child bawl more. "It's okay..." He sighed, turning around to face her with a frown, "... It's fine."

Lucy's eyes gradually opened, completely glazed over as she gazed at Natsu who seemed to be trying to keep his cool. How could she blame him? She was weak and completely useless. People pitied her but, she couldn't criticize them for it as she pitied herself too. Having to come save the same person just because they are too scared and too powerless would begin to annoy anyone. "I wanted... I wanted to fight back." She gasped through her falling tears, "They are so scary!"

The pink haired boy lightly gripped onto her shoulder with a strong gaze, "It's fine Luce." He smiled a bit, his childish grin coming into play as he tried to calm her down. "I'm used to it by now."

Even though his words were meant to soothe her, that last sentence sent an endless amount of self-hatred through her frail veins. It was silent as Lucy's remaining sobbing gasps started cease, "... Natsu..." She looked to her hands, "... D-Do you hate me now?"

She was begging for attention, for reassurance and she was all too aware of it. The pink-haired snapped his gaze at her, shaking his head, "Why do you think that?"

"My hair..." The feeble girl bit her lip as a small whimper left her body, "... L-Lisanna says you don't like ugly girls. And baldies."

Natsu looked to the missing section of hair and slightly dug his nails into her skin as he fought the urge to go back and rip all of their stupid heads off. "I could never hate Lucy." He spoke, looking to the ground as the words were nearly too embarrassing to say.

"W-What?" She wiped a tear.

The boy looked up with puffed out cheeks and a - almost hilarious - look of determination, "I would like Lucy even if you lost all of your hair!"

"Young love." A taunting voice spoke, distracting the young duo from their rather intimate - as intimate as two third graders could get - conversation. Cana stood behind them, chuckling along with the others.

The two felt their faces heat up as they looked to the Fairies standing behind them, chuckling. Natsu stood up and awkwardly scratched the back of his head with mumble. "I'm just mad that they ruined the cookies… Thaz all…"

Lucy looked down to her fists and started clenching and unclenching them. "Guys! I have my goal now." She stood up, quite determined, "I'll be stronger! When we are big kids, I'll be the strongest!"

They stared at the small and frail girl who was puffing her chest like some tough dude. Then they started snickering, "I look forward to that," Laxus rubbed the top of her head, "You and Natsu, you'll run the school."

Lucy's eyes shined and she smiled gorgeously, "Yeah!"

"That's what I call a power couple." Cana laughed as they all started heading up the hill.

Natsu and Lucy were behind them, "So," the pink haired boy smiled at her, "You think you can make us some more cookies tomorrow?"

Lucy looked down and smiled softly, "Maybe."

"Really!" Natsu laughed childishly, "You make the best cookies Luce! You're like the best cook ever!"

Lucy giggled and tilted her head, "You think?" She skipped up the hill as wind blew her long golden hair back, "Hey, if I left randomly, would you miss my cooking the most."

Natsu's eyes glowed at her appearance, the sakura trees behind her as the wind intertwined with her gorgeous golden hair. "Of course not." He smiled, walking all the way up to her. He tilted his head as his feet stopped in front of hers, "I'll miss _you_ Luce." He stuck out his tongue and walked up the hill, "You're the prettiest girl I've ever met."

Lucy's face beamed with red at the sentence, "P-Pretty." She blinked, "Natsu! What is that supposed to mean!?"

Natsu laughed and ran forward, "I'll tell you later!"

"When!" Lucy pouted.

Natsu turned around and smiled, his entire body radiating brilliantly with the sunshine behind him. Lucy felt her face flush even more at his appearance as he extended his hand. "When you reach your goal," he smiled as Lucy reached for his fingers, "I'll tell you then."

Lucy's eyes glossed over with amazement at this boy's radiance. He was magnificent. She smiled and nodded, "Okay."

The duo giggled and Natsu pulled her hand forward, pulling her into the group that was filled with laughter.

_That was the last time we saw each other…_

…

Natsu ran down the streets with the Fairies following behind him, "C'mon! If we don't hurry, Lucy might make other plans!" The summer sun beamed on their skins as they sprinted, "We don't want her to miss the first day of summer!"

The pink haired boy turned the corner where he expected to find Lucy's house but instead was stunned to see a mover's truck. The other Fairies caught up and stalled behind him. All of their eyes shaded over with bewilderment.

Natsu slowly sneaked forward to scope out the area. His eyes focused onto a large sign that had the red letters "SOLD" pasted over it. Slowly, everyone followed as was stunned by the sign. The pink haired boy ran to one of the movers, "Why are you moving new furniture in?"

"Get out of here brat." The man grumpily mumbled.

Natsu growled, "Where's Lucy?"

Another man carrying in a chair chimed in, "If you're talking about the people who originally owned this house, kid, they left yesterday." He grunted and lifted chair to get a better grip, "Somethin about bankruptcy. Yeah, they had to move to a real bad neighborhood. Like even worst than this one." He chuckled, "Is that even possible?"

Natsu shook his head, "Lucy's gone?"

The man walked forward, "Guess so little man."

The fairies stood stunned, everyone just blankly staring at the house. At the house they'd spent 8 of their years with Lucy in. One that now belonged to someone else.

_I really did just… disappear._

Natsu shook his head slowly, "Lucy… why didn't you tell us?" He whispered.

_We never saw each other again._

_ Until nearly a decade later._

* * *

**_A/N:_ Finally. I know, fucking finally Lovex1 posted the first chapter. **

**Anyway, so originally, I intended to make this a soft and fluffy story but, I rethought it and I love this plot line too much not to add some angst. Sorry bout it. Not really. Anyway, it was just going to be a stupid heart-warming romance but, I've decided to make it a stupid heart-wrenching romance. :)**

**I have three chapters done. This will be updated similarly to A Vampire's Mate. Once a month. I'll upload MPHBB 7 soon. I'm sort of unhappy with it so it'll take a bit but the draft is finished :)**

**ANYWAY! I hope you enjoyed it. I know this chapter is a little lame but, we needa know the backstory guys. And most of you have seen the preview so, you know what comes next anyway. **

**Please Review. I love you guys! See you later mi amigos.**

**~Lovex1**


	2. Chapter 2: The 17th Year

**CHAPTER 2**

_The 17__th__ year_

**The air was cold. **Fall in Magnolia always had a chill that almost matched winter in other parts of the world. Icy fire blew out of Natsu's lips as he walked down a compact alleyway. Three students who wore the same Highschool blazer as him were leaned against the brick walls, letting the smoke from their cigarettes mix in with their visible exhales.

The men held these gazes fiercer than a tiger's with an aura whose darkness outmatched make-believe villains. But as soon as their dangerous eyes identified Natsu, their threat level disappeared instantly. They threw their cigarettes to the ground and took no hesitation to jog out of the corridor.

The pink-haired male watched the intimidated trio disappear into the streets.

"It must be lonely to scare everyone away." A voice chimed from behind him. Natsu's glare turned to face a particular raven-haired girl.

He turned around, "Fuck off, Minerva."

"I need a favor." She said, walking up from behind. Her nails slowly crawled up his large arm, "I'll give you a huge reward."

Natsu let out an irritated breath and looked down to the devious girl. His eyes held absolutely no interest for what she had to say. "What."

Minerva whistled at his vicious tone, "It's true what they say." She snickered, "No matter what expression you make, you can still make a girl wet."

He shook his head, "You're wasting my time."

"No, okay, look." Minerva started, "I need you to spread some shit around for me." She held up her phone, a picture of a young girl crying, naked and spread apart by strangers' hands to see every single part of her body. Minerva clicked the arrow, scrolling through different inappropriate positions. "This Freshman was fucking my man so I had some of my guys rape the bitch and take these photos." She locked her phone and stuffed it into her back pocket. "And I want you to spread them around school."

"And why the fuck would I do that?" Natsu clenched his teeth.

"You're Natsu Dragneel." Minerva spoke, with great emphasis on his name. "You've got the most influence in the school. Getting these around would be easy." She leaned in, "And I'll give you this bitch as an award. You can make her your little sex slave if ya want. The whore would love it."

The pink haired delinquent turned around once more and began walking, "Not interested." He stuffed his hands into his pocket, "Later."

"She's blonde. Cute. Innocent too." Minerva hummed from behind, "She's just like Lucy."

Natsu seemed to click his jaw at the sentence. The noriette waited for some sort of reaction but she merely watched as his pink hair got small and smaller. "Dammit."

Angel and Lisanna appeared out of the dark alleyway, "What'd you expect?" Angel rolled her eyes, "The Fairies don't do shit for other gangs."

"'Specially Natsu." Lisanna spoke, "People say you gotta give him your whole life savings if you just wanna get his attention."

Minerva exhaled, looking through her phone. "So fucking cocky." She flipped her long, black locks. "I've got every guy at school kissing my feet but that dick thinks he's some damn God? Please, if he didn't have the Fairies, he wouldn't be shit."

Lisanna and Angel awkwardly looked away at her rant. Lisanna picked at her nails, "I… mean… Natsu is _technically _the strongest person in school." She scratched the back off her head, "And we used to worship him and the Fairies s-so… it's kind of hypocritical to say stuff like that-"

"Shut up." Minerva hissed, scrolling through her phone, "Shit, now I've gotta do this myself."

The two girls eyed each other before sighing at their raven-haired friend.

"Send the pics to me," Angel said, flipping out her cellular device. "I've got the numbers of some huge names at some neighboring schools."

Lisanna let out a cackle, "She's probably going to commit suicide. Nobody in this city won't have seen that loose pussy of 'ers."

"Good." Minerva grinned in amusement, "The slut got drunk and thought she could make out with my man?"

"_Make out_?" Angel lifted a brow, forwarding the vulgar picture to several numbers. "I thought you said Cobra _fucked_ her."

Minerva seemed more focused on her cellphone than the conversation at hand, "Same thing." She shooed away the subject, "She touched what's mine. Me, Minerva. The bitch didn't know her place, so I just showed her."

"So what would've happened if they'd actually fucked?" Lisanna tilted her head, her eyes glinting with a bit of anticipation.

Minerva's deadly brown eyes shot up at the sentence. "I'd kill her."

That wasn't a threat.

The two girls seemed to laugh at the sentence, not out of humor, but out of the sheer satisfaction they got from her merciless immorality.

. . .

Fiore was one of many districts inside of the large and filthy streets of Magnolia. In whole each district had it's own top gang, it's own hierarchy, and it's own kingdom. These 12 districts make up Magnolia.

But what people really separated the districts with was the 12 Kings. Each the leader of the top gang in their region. Names you had to know. Names you did know even if you didn't go out of your way to learn them.

If there was a version of government in this shitty and abandoned city, it would be run by them.

The basic principle of this place was either you were the hunter or you were hunted. Translated into: if you're not in a gang, you are dead. That was the main and unspoken rule. Perhaps that's why the gangs started young, all the way back to grade school. They say school is a place that readies you for the real world. Well for everyone in Magnolia, crime was the only world.

Every now and then, a generation will produce the chosen few. You know, those ridiculously gifted killers and fighters. The ones that are worshipped by their peers all the way from Grade school till they graduate. These were the people to keep an eye for. Because as past few have proven, a new King is born from one of these golden gangs, and history does tend to repeat itself.

After high School, there was no college. Though, the process is almost the same. Gangs around the districts always take in high school graduates. The better your skill, the more likely you are to get in a good gang. Some try to get out of town or start a new gang, but 85% of the time it results in failure.

It was a pretty fucked up system. But it worked.

. . .

A boy was thrown against a vending machine with a harsh force, a long white leg slamming into the machine beside his head. The victim looked up to his bully with horrified eyes. "Did you forget who these vending machines belonged to?" A senior stood over the mortified male with three henchmen standing behind him. "Cana's not gonna be to happy to find out some freshman _bitch _came and dared to steal her shit."

The kid shook his head, "No! No I paid for it! I didn't steal!" He shouted, trying to remain cool though panic was screaming all over his face.

"_Anything _taken from here is stealing." The vicious male wrapped his finger's in his prey's shirt, "I'll give you a nice reminder for next time you try this shit."

_Bam!_

The boys eyes were shut tightly. But no impact came to him. Instead the sound of hitting came from another source. Hesitantly, he opened his eyes to see his perpetrators were no longer in front of him and instead mangled against the walls. Then his gaze went to the center where he saw two long tan legs that belonged to a brunette beauty, accompanied by a crimson-haired demon and raven-haired god.

Instantly, he knew who they were. He'd never seen them up close like this. But, he knew. Everyone knew.

Cana brushed her hair back with a sigh, "I didn't ask you fucking idiots to be my bodyguards." She looked back to Erza and Gray who were wiping off their hands. "Thanks."

The boy stood up instantly with his "stolen" item safely in his grasp. "T-Thank you!" He shouted, "I was just so thirsty. I appreciate your understanding!"

Cana lifted a brow and walked over to the kid, popping gum beneath her tongue. Slowly, she moved her smug expression down to his, getting so close that his face erupted in a bright pink. Her fingers snatched the drink out of his hand and she grinned, holding it in front of him, "Count it as your fee." She turned around and began walking down the hallway, "If I see you around here again, I'll kick your ass too."

The boy stood frozen, just barely escaping death as three of the gods of High School walked away. He looked to his moaning bullies who almost looked like they should get professional care. Then his gaze rotated back to hallway where his sort of saviors/sort of almost killers vanished.

_Fairy Tail_, he thought. _Scary._

. . .

The students in the hallway split like the red sea whenever their pink-haired king was present. Natsu walked through the cleared path like he did every day, glowing like the devil and raised like a monarch.

Nobody uttered a single sound in his presence.

It was so quiet that you could hear a heart beat.

On the opposite side of the corridor were Cana and the other two. The trio walked down the hallway, not receiving as intense of a greeting as their leader but students did lower their voices and avoided all forms of eye contact at the sight of the members of Fairy tail.

"Do these shits know how hard it was to sneak alcohol into the vending machines?" Cana squeezed her empty "juice" box, throwing it onto an innocent bystander's forehead. "All the perves I dealt with to get the right fucking connections?"

"Probably not." Gray folded his arms, "You are the only one who would care enough to do that shit. Fuckin alcoholic."

The brunette snapped her head to the side and eyed her raven-haired companion with a glare fiercer than a tiger's. "Watch yourself, _Gray_."

"_Joking_." Gray rolled his eyes walking past the vicious addict, "Sort of."

Before Cana could get a fist full of Gray's hair, she found herself being blocked by his bodyguard. Aka girlfriend. The brunette looked down to Juvia seeing an unwavering scowl that was overflowing with bloodlust.

"Tell your dog to calm the fuck down." Cana hissed at Gray as the noriette pulled his growling lover into his chest.

"Okay, _both _of you bitches need to chill." Laxus spoke as Mira pulled Cana back while Gray held onto Juvia.

The group seemed to take a moment to simmer but alas peace eventually greeted them. All their eyes seemed to turn to an approaching Gajeel who looked rather irritated. Laxus snickered at the sight of the brawny male, "Get anymore piercings and you're gonna be a walking magnet."

"Shut the fuck up." The metal-head cursed lowly.

Cana whistled at his hostility, "Damn what's up your ass?"

Gajeel rubbed the back of his neck, "Nothing," He scowled, "Apparently Minerva sent around some pics of this Freshman bitch this morning. Every district probably has some copies by now." He hissed, "Levy saw them on my phone and got pissed."

"Oh man, I got those." Gray snickered, pulling out his phone. His finger pressed a few buttons, "She's got a nice ass."

Juvia's eyes seemed to shine over like a blade, "A nice _what_?"

Laxus took Gray's cell into his own grasp and scrolled through the pictures, "Minerva is cold-blooded man."

Erza swiped the phone and shut it, "No the bitch is fucking insane." The redhead handed Gray back his phone, "All she does is pick on the weak and flaunt her loose ass, prancing around like some damn queen."

"So then fuck her up." Gajeel grinned, "Or are you all bark and no bite?"

Erza folded her arms with a grimace, "And risk pissing off Ren? That's more trouble than it's worth."

"With Natsu, it'll be easy." Mira chuckled, "And speaking of the devil."

They all noticed the atmosphere around them suddenly went dead silent and all living bodies dispersed. Walking before them was Natsu, his eyes bored and tired as he spit on the ground before approaching them.

They were all silent for a moment, reading Natsu's mood.

"Did you hear about what Minerva did?" Cana leaned in toward the foul male.

Natsu hissed under his breath, "Yeah." His body moved toward the exit door, "I want some fresh air. Let's go."

The gang eyed each other and then shrugged, obeying his wishes.

The feared Fairies made their way outside to an entirely empty area, crossed off to outsiders entirely. It was behind the school, three tables were built in the ground and across from them was a row of cherry blossom trees on a hill.

They all focused on two entities who seemed to be lounging in their very acclaimed spot. Levy. Gajeel grinned, gaining the short girl's attention, "Hey Prez." He bowed to Jellal mockingly, "Vice Prez."

Levy smiled at her metal-faced boyfriend before dropping the expression at the sight of Natsu. "Hey look, Natsu." The bluenette pointed behind her to the pink trees, "The cherry blossoms bloomed. Rare this time of year." She wiggled her eyebrows, "In fact the last time they bloomed this early was 3rd grade."

Natsu pulled a cigarette pack from his loose blazer and lit one of the nicotine sticks between his lips. "Yeah?" He tapped the ash off, "What do you suppose that means?"

"I'm just sayin," Levy snickered, neatly stacking her loads of papers, "Today we're getting a transfer student from the 12th district. Maybe this is a sign."

The pinkette didn't even respond, he merely moved forward to deliberately block everyone out. The others let out sighs and Erza lightly smacked Levy upside her blue head. "You know not to bring that shit up."

Levy grimaced at the red-heads harsh force and rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes, "This new guy is in our class. Nobody good comes out of the 12th district so I'm just sayin we should be wary."

Eyes of pure threat glossed over everyone's faces.

Before anyone could respond, the bell rang.

"Fuck." Gajeel groaned, putting away his pack of cigarettes before he even got to taste them. He patted Laxus's chest as the male flirted with Mira, "Wanna ditch?"

"Nah, man." The scarred gangster started following Mira and the other Fairies back into the hallway. "Don't ya wanna see the new guy?"

The pierced male nodded in agreement and waited for a moment for Levy to join his steps. The group walked through the hallway. It was normal for them, for there always to be a clear pathway for them at school. The kids split like the red sea. Granted, Natsu was always in front so perhaps this was all more for him.

It was a rare sight to see all the Fairies together. Most of them ditched. So it wasn't surprising to see everyone's utter shock when they all walked into their first period together. Though, the Fairies didn't seem to acknowledge their classmates' stares in the slightest. But it'd always been this way. The rest of the world might as well not exist in their eyes.

Minerva was in the class. Eyeing them. She was surrounded by several people, the majority being dick-brained boys. The students seemed to be drawn to her. As compared to the Fairies, where every student maintained at least a 10-foot distance.

Minerva saw it as a difference of power, she even put herself on the same level as the famed group of gangsters. She had the power of the people while they all relied only on each other. Just who really ran the school?

Sure the Fairies had the advantage of outstanding fear and intimidation. And well, maybe… they were proven time and time again of being the strongest kids in school. But Minerva, she was one step ahead. She had Ren, she had an army of _real _gangsters rallying behind her. Not a bunch of make-believe winged creatures who rely on friendship more than their actual weapons.

Snapping her out of her own thoughts, Lisanna's voice sang into Minerva's ear, "She's here."

The noriette came to realize the room became quiet with several cracked snickers breaking the stillness. Through the door came the blonde, her eyes obviously noticing the pictures spread across the board. All color drained from her face. Mortification widened her eyes as tears instantly fell.

She dropped everything in her hands but instead of running, she started ripping the pictures off. Humiliated and hysterical the blonde started panting, sobbing loudly as she tore all of them in half and then tore them once more, then again and again.

Until a hand painted with black nail polish lightly tapped over her shaking fingers. She looked up, trembling harder than a rabbit, face red with wet streaks and saw the demonic eyes of her bully. "Aw Jen." Minerva tilted her head with a pout, lightly running her fingers through her long, blonde locks. "You really must have seen this coming, right?"

"Everyone…" Jenny choked, "… Everyone's seen these. You…" She shook her head and stepped forward, "… You had these… these guys rape me and…" Her eyes stared at the ground blank… broken. Unable to comprehend the damage done to both her body and mind.

A long smile stretched across Minerva's lips, "This is what happens to sluts who fuck other people's boyfriends." She tilted her head, glossing her gaze with a vicious tint. "I'm only serving the public here. Now nobody's boyfriend will want you." Minerva snickered, "Not after seeing just how gross your pussy is." The black-haired witch held out her phone with a picture of Jenny spread wide for the world to see, "I mean honestly, do you even take care of yourself? It's fucking disgusting."

Jenny tried to open her mouth but she couldn't. She felt sick. She wanted to die. Right there, she wanted someone to end it. This was horrible. Really, really horrible.

The class vibrated with laughter and the eyes of her judgmental peers as they all looked to their phones. They passed around the pictures to each other. Looking up to her then back down to the picture then erupting with even more taunting chuckles.

The world, Jenny's world, it felt like it was all crumbling. Like death had its hands on her neck and was squeezing slowly. She shut her eyes in an attempt to block it all out. All of it. It was her fault. She let Ren rape her. Her fault. All her fault. And this is her punishment.

Gajeel lifted his brow at the scene and then turned to the others who hardly seemed interested in the commotion. "Minerva's goin a little wild there. You sure you're good with this Prez?"

The bluenette turned the page of her book, cheek resting on knuckle, "Last week, Jenny was supposed to turn in paperwork to the student council. But never did." She sighed in boredom, "So this seems to be out of my hands."

The raven-haired male snickered, "That's pretty heartless."

Levy's eyes scanned over the pages, her fingers sliding over as she flipped it oncemore. "Perhaps."

"Just what is going on in here?" A deep voice drew all the attention in the room. The students looked toward the room where their teacher stood with a reprimanding glare.

Minerva looked over Jenny's body with a snicker, "Tell him Jen." She leaned forward, "Tell him how bad you want to suck his dick. You do don't you? Sluts have no boundaries I've heard." She looked up to her appalled teacher with a poisonous gaze, "Be careful sensei. You don't want to know how many guys have been inside there." She blinked, "Wait. Actually," She scrolled through her phone, pulling up a video, "I'll just show you."

The teacher stared at the porn absolutely appalled, seeing the blonde being brutally ravished by several men. Too many to count with the quick glance he gave it. Jenny stared at the video, reliving the nightmare over and over in her mind. Still feeling their fingers on her as they ruined her innocence. As they broke her with every unwanted entry.

Instantly, she turned away and attempted to run out of the room.

But then, _thunk!_

Jenny ran her head into something soft.

She looked up and saw first, two enormous breasts covered by a school's uniform. But before she could look up to see the mysterious person, they just walked right past her. The class went silent as an unidentified figure walked toward the desk. She wore a hoodie, the hood blocking them from fully seeing her face.

The class looked like a herd of demons, their glowing red eyes staring down their prey.

The girl pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of her jacket and carelessly tossed it to the teacher. Jenny slipped out of the room as all the attention went to this new kid.

She turned to the class, allowing them all to attain a good view of her face. Minerva stared at her as the noriette slowly went back to her desk. She was a beauty, to put it simply. Enough of a beauty to instantly create a sour taste in Minerva's mouth. With long golden hair sticking out from underneath the shadow of her hood.

It was hard to grasp the full detail of her features but from what they could obtain, it was impressive. At least look-wise.

Minerva sank into her seat, seeing her man-minions all focused on that ridiculous pair of tits stapled to the blonde rookie's chest. She crossed her legs and folded her arms. The bitch would be raped by lunch.

The thought made the vicious teen smile.

With a sigh, the teacher opened the rudely thrown paper and blinked, reading the ink. "Oh," He said, "You're the transfer student."

That sentence caused all of the Fairies to look up slowly. The students seemed to quickly grow tense at the sight of their interest.

Mira tapped her mouth with her pencil as she analyzed the blonde, "Pretty." She said with a straight face, rolling the eraser over her bottom lip. "But familiar."

"What'd you say this new kid's name was again?" Laxus turned to Levy who seemed to be studying the blonde hard.

The bluenette shook her head, "I didn't care to find out."

"Well class, welcome our new student." The teacher smiled, neatly folding his arms behind his back. "Why don't you tell the class a few things about yourself?"

The blonde eyed the man with a glare that seem to glow through the darkness of her hood. Two narrowed brown daggers, murderous, terrifying. The teacher involuntarily swallowed at the sight. She stood in silence, blowing a bubble of gum then popping it before speaking. "I lived here when I was a kid." Her voice was dull, laced with annoyance. "Moved when I was 8 to the 12th district. Now I'm back."

_The 12__th__ district. _Everyone shuddered. Those who were simply sitting were either now gripping to a hidden weapon or eyeing the blonde cautiously.

But the Fairies, they were silent.

A placid color started crawling over their faces as though they'd just seen a ghost. The look of their uneasy states set the class nearly off the edge. Though, nobody knew the real reason for their stunned condition.

"It's not possible right?" Gray was the first to whispered out of his completely muted friends. "She… There's no way she would move to the 12th district."

"There's no way that's her period." Cana shook her head, "That bitch… is nothing like her."

"And your name?" The teacher said in a softer tone, almost fearful.

The blonde cracked her neck and let out a sigh, "Lucy." She hummed, "Lucy Heartfilia."

The Fairies were dead silent.

A pressure radiated off of them that spread across the entire classroom. The students were put off by their strange behavior, growing increasingly more nervous. Heavy whispering erupted. Lisanna and Angel exchanged a grinning glance and looked back to Minerva who wore a deeply amused smile.

"Well, Miss Heartfilia…" The teacher awkwardly spoke, "You may take the seat behind Natsu."

Every single eye was glued onto the hooded girl.

Lucy walked down the row, not looking once toward the Fairies. Neither of them said a word. They didn't know what to say or what to do. They expected her to say something but nothing. She didn't open her mouth once. Her body simply slid into her designated seat and that was it.

The Fairies exchanged a few confused glances and Cana shrugged looking back toward their long-forgotten friend. Then to Natsu.

The pink-haired boy was looking forward. He didn't look at her even once. His expression was emotionless. As though these sudden turn of events didn't irk him a single bit.

But before any voice could speak, Minerva's beat them all. "Just _what _happened?" She leaned into the blonde's desk, "It's been about 9 years right?"

No response.

Lucy crossed her legs over her desk and looked out the window. Her expression was blank. Dull. But her eyes… those were something else. The Fairies couldn't believe it. Was this girl _really _Lucy? _Their _Lucy? Or some kind of sick joke?

Those brown eyes that used to flourish with the most untainted virtue were now dyed red with bloodlust.

They didn't want to admit, but just this time they were with Minerva. Just what the hell _did _happen?

Why did she come back? After all these years? Senior year of all things. These events were almost too strange.

But of course, Minerva needed to take it a step further. "Your hair grew back nice." She crossed her legs with an arrogant glow, "You do forgive me right? It's been such a long time." She snickered, "Are you still that sensitive?"

No response.

The noriette's grin wavered. This bitch. This stupid blonde bitch. "Just as quiet as ever." Minerva pressed further, "Your friends are sitting in front of you yet you've haven't said a single word to them."

Angel leaned forward to hopefully get a rise out of their long-lost victim. "Ah, Minerva don't be so mean." She hummed, "The crybaby is probably overwhelmed."

The Fairies flinched.

But Minerva's smile just got wider.

And Lucy didn't move an inch.

"Crybaby." The black-haired student cackled, "I really missed you, you know that? I mean that, really." Minerva leaned back, "Nobody puts on as great of a show as you."

"Yeah!" Lisanna interjected immediately, "Nobody begs anymore. Everyone's just so _tough_." The short-haired girl grinned, "Glad we've got our entertainment back."

Mira glared at her younger sister, "Watch it."

The silver-haired sibling swallowed at the sight of her intense gaze. "T-There it goes again." She hissed, "The Fairies are right on time. Coming to her rescue!"

It felt like the past instantly hit them.

After 9 years, all it took was the missing piece to revive it all again.

All this tension. All this commontion.

All this… this _power_.

Minerva thrived in it. Not even 5 minutes go by and Lucy is the center of attention again. But she was sure this time, she would ruin it. Minerva was the hottest one at school. She was the one who was center of attention. She was strong. Not like that blonde bimbo. No. She wouldn't let that blonde bitch come in and ruin her 9 years of hard work. Lucy got everything. Beauty, Natsu, the Fairies, all without lifting a finger!

Not this time.

She would have the school roasting this bitch into ash by tomorrow.

"Just wait till everyone hears the Crybaby is back." Minerva hummed in amusement, "Did people at your new school call you that too? Crybaby? I bet they did."

"No way it was probably something worse." Angel laughed, "She probably realized she wasn't shit without her little pixies coming to her rescue. Man, I bet she cried everyday in the locker room."

The class started joining the girls in their laughter. Lisanna chuckled, "Remember when she used to do that?" She tapped the desk as she laughed, "God you should've just hung yourself in there. At least that would've been more interesting to find than a blubbering bitch."

Angel saw Lucy was still staring at the window. The blonde hadn't looked at them once this whole time. "Hey crybaby!" She shouted, "Got anything to respond with?"

"She's probably crying." Lisanna whispered loudly for the whole room to hear. Chuckles vibrated through the room at the sentence. "Hey, hey crybaby. Rumor has it you left school because of us. Couldn't handle a little hair cut?"

Erza stood up from her seat, "How about I cut your throat?"

Minerva whistled at her hostility, "Calm down there little fairy." She folded her arms, "We're just trying to have a little fun with our childhood friend." She tilted her head, "We need to make up for 9 years."

"…Crybaby." Lisanna started, lightly hitting her table with her fist, "Crybaby. Crybaby. Crybaby. Will you respond if we call your name enough?"

"Crybaby! Crybaby! Crybaby!" Angel joined in the chanting with a howl.

The students grew more and more hyped. This was fun. Most of them didn't know who this girl was but hell! It was hilarious!

"Crybaby! Crybaby! Crybaby! Crybaby!" The entire class shouted, enough for the entire building to hear.

The Fairies glared. They glared hard. But nobody cared. They were all high off of the hype Minerva created. Their voices just got louder and louder until it felt like the room was vibrating. Some people were screaming, others were filming.

But before the Fairies fully rose from their seats to stop this anarchy, Lucy moved a bit from her sleep-like state. "Shit…" She muttered beneath her breath as she began to sit up. The screaming, the chanting, the dancing and laughter, it all got louder as they noticed she reacted a bit. Slowly, the blonde came to a stand, her hands in her pockets and a yawn expelling from her mouth.

Then she looked down to Minerva. Under the hood were two brown eyes. Not a single tear in sight. But rather a gaze that was far more lethal than any weapon. Narrow and murderous. Like an assassin. Like a devil. Like a full-blown thug.

Minerva wasn't intimidated. "Crybaby!" She shouted the loudest. She had a smile that was wider than her face. "Cry-"

_BOOM!_

Without realizing it, Lucy's hand grabbed onto a fist full of Minerva's onyx locks and slammed her head so hard into the wood that it cracked.

Instant silence.

Lucy released her head, feeling the girl go limp on impact. Her unwavering glare looked up to her other two tormenters. The silver-haired girls had faces drained of all color, decorated in the placid paint of fear. "It's nice to see you again." The blonde lifted Minerva's face from the desk and allowed full view to her gruesome masterpiece. Her nose was hanging, the skin stretched as blood came rushing down to her lips and chin, dripping onto her white blouse. An indent was dug into her forehead with a fading dark purple smeared over it. "You may want to take her somewhere so she doesn't die or somethin'."

Nobody could utter a word.

Lisanna swallowed and opened her mouth but choked before any sentences came out. "You…" She shook her head in an attempt to stand her ground, "You're still… a…"

"A crybaby?" Lucy tilted her head, letting Minerva's face smash back into the desk. She stepped forward with lifted brows, "Yeah, you all made that pretty clear." Students started reaching into their bags for weapons to prepare for battle while others cowered in their seats. "Let me introduce myself one more time." She hovered over Angel with an unfamiliar glow. One of power. Pure mortifying power. "My name is Lucy Heartfilia. After moving from this shit town where I was more commonly known as 'Crybaby,' I moved to an even shitter town. To an even _shitter _school." She grinned widely with sharp teeth that were ready to bite. "But you wanna know what they called me once Middle School rolled around?"

Lisanna was shaking, unable to produce words. Angel's eyes were dead, unable to remove the image of Minerva's bloody face from her mind. Their leader's blood was dripping onto the floor. The puddle leaked onto Angel's feet.

However the Fairies, they were stunned into silence.

None of them could produce an emotion large enough to illustrate their shock. Did they just witness Lucy, _their _Lucy, bash someone's skull in? Who the fuck was inside her skin? Who the fuck was she?

"Leader." Lucy's forehead lightly pressed against Lisanna's. Without hesitation, the blonde slammed her skull into the silverette's. The girl toppled over unconscious. Though Lucy stood tall. Not affected in the slightest. But a bloody delight now radiated in her thoroughly amused eyes.

Lucy removed the hood from head, letting her long, beautiful golden locks greet the light. She snickered lowly at the sight of Angel's mortified expression. The blonde demon slammed her foot onto her desk, causing tears to fall from Angel's overwhelmed eyes. "Hm…" Lucy's single finger tilted the sobbing girl's chin up, "Looks like you'll need to rethink our nicknames." Then she leaned in close. So close that her breath was brushing up against Angel's mouth. And then a low voice escaped her lips and traveled over the silverette's skin in shivers. "Call me that shit again, and I'll kill you."

"Miss Heartfilia!" The teacher shouted, appalled beyond words. "This behavior during class… is… is inexcusable!"

"Yeah, yeah." She yawned.

The teacher stormed forward and grabbed onto her arm viciously. Some students gathered over the two unconscious girls and started to pick them up and carry them away. Lucy was lead out of the room and the classroom was left empty of commotion.

All that was left of the crime scene was the blood and the cracked desk. And the blank expressions on the Fairies' faces. On everyone's faces.

"Wh…" Gray could barely formed words as he replayed the scene in his head, "What the fuck…"

Levy rubbed her forehead in frustration, "How did I not know she was coming back?" The bluenette looked up and to the cracked desk that several students were starting to crowd around. "But… was that even… her?"

Instantly, Natsu stood up.

"Natsu?" Gajeel lifted a brow but received no response.

The pink-haired male just walked out of the classroom without a word.

"He's gonna be fucked up for a while." Laxus sighed, leaning into his seat.

"She didn't say anything to us." Cana stared at Lucy's empty seat, "... It was the same when she left."

Gajeel ground his teeth together, "After 9 fucking years I think we deserve some sort of explanation."

"What if she forgot about us?" Mira turned to them, "I think Natsu's not the only one who's been holding onto her. It wouldn't be abnormal if she left and made new friends that replaced us."

"Bullshit." Levy hissed, "She would at least remember our faces. She should have the audacity to say something."

"That's not how she is, remember?" Erza snickered a bit, "The girl hated confrontation."

Slowly, all of their eyes went to the desk that was splattered with Minerva's blood. "I think there's a lot we don't know about her." Gray said.

* * *

**Well... hello there.**

**Before I'm yelled at for being slow, I did have this finished for a long time. It just had two different sort of "plots" and instead of choosing one I like cut one in half and put it with the main story. Confusing, I know. BUT! All that matters is that it's here now. Bad bitch Lucy has arrived.**

**I hope it was worth the wait.**

**The writing isn't as great. I did finish this a while ago - when my writing wasn't as "good." But it's readable. So, there. **

**And of course, there's errors. I never read it over - a bad habit that I'll fix one day. Anyway though, I love you guys. Thanks for sticking around even though I'm a shit updater. Hope your week is less stressful than mine :)**

**~Lovex1**


	3. Chapter 3: Today there are 11

**CHAPTER 3**

_Today there are 11_

"Destroying school property _and _nearly beating a student to death, knocking another unconscious..." The principal seated across the wooden desk from Lucy, "This... this is unbelievable. Ridiculous. It is your first day here Miss Heartfilia!"

Lucy sat low in her chair, legs crossed on his desk. She popped a large bubble from her gum and chewed before speaking, "Would this kind of 'behavior' be more excusable if I was a veteran of this school like that bitch I 'nearly beat to death?'" The blonde roed her eyes and looked away, "You'll turn a blind eye to all of the rape porn spread across the school," She took out one of the photos of the raped blonde and threw it onto his desk, "But handing the karma that cunt deserved is punishable?" Lucy scoffed with a laugh, her bloody eyes narrowing onto the pathetic authority. "If I didn't do it, someone was gonna."

"What Minerva has done will surely be punished but that is aside from your current predicament." The principal spoke, "Fighting in school-"

"You're running a public school in the center of hell." Lucy spoke, smacking her gum, "And you're saying fighting isn't _allowed_? Or just to the kids who don't run this shit school?" She laughed, "All principals are the same. You hold little power, only over the kids untouched by gangs." Lucy folded her arms, "And those types are hard to find 'round here."

The old man swallowed down the rest of his argument and looked down to his documents. "If this happens again, I will expel you."

"What? You gonna expel every kid that misbehaves around here?" Lucy snickered, shaking her head, "You're gonna end up having no students, old man." The blonde stood up and walked toward the door. "And also, don't make any rash decisions without your Bosses' consent."

"And just _who _might my bosses be?" He hissed through his teeth at the insolent brat.

Lucy opened the door and waited a moment. "The Fairies." She spoke, walking out, "I'm sure they won't be able to stand me leaving a second time."

_Shut!_

The principal watched the door slam closed and he looked down to Lucy's manilla folder. Over her name was the word "SUSPENSION: VIOLENCE." He looked at it for a moment and then sighed with a deep groan. His fingers took the tainted record and ripped it.

"Another one." He rubbed his forehead, "And I thought those brats were troublesome enough."

Lucy walked out of the building's front doors, feeling the brisk wind freeze up her cheeks on impact. She let out an icy breath and searched her pockets for cigarettes. As her fingers touched the tip of the box, her other digits gripped onto her lighter. She brought the tobacco to her lips and lit it, letting out a relaxing gray breath.

She walked along the beat-up concrete, passing an alleyway. And then she stopped.

Lucy let out another smoky exhale and blew up into the sky. "You're not very good at hiding." The blonde chuckled, throwing the cigarette onto the ground. "That hasn't changed."

"You smoke now?" A deep, cold voice spoke behind her.

Lucy turned around, stuffing her fingers into her hoodie's pockets. "Yeah." She looked behind the corner of the alleyway and spot a particularly handsome pink-haired male standing against the wall with the same brand cigarette sticking between his lips. "You too, I see."

Natsu pulled the stick from his mouth and looked at it with a cloudy blow. He was silent. Then, his predatory onyx eyes looked up to hers. Like a tiger's, slitted, daggers. In both of their eyes. The two stared at each other for a moment, feeling the power emitting from each other. Natsu then looked back down to his cigarette, "What happened to you?"

"That's a pretty broad question." Lucy said.

"Give me an answer." Natsu's tone was harsher.

The blonde licked the inside of her cheek and lifted her brows at his demanding attitude. She clicked her tongue and looked away, "Wasn't my introduction a few hours ago enough?"

"No." Natsu stood up, "You disappeared without a trace. Not even a goodbye. And now you show up 9 years later and what? Didn't even care to acknowledge us? Nothin?" The pink-haired male glared at her, hard. "I don't want to know where you were. I don't give a shit. I want to know _why_. That's all I've wanted to know for 9 _fucking _years. That's all _any _of us have wanted to know."

Lucy shook her head with a scoff and looked to the ground, "I'm surprised you guys even remember me."

Natsu stared at her for a moment in complete disbelief and then turned away, biting his lip irritably. "Great answer, Luce. Really. I've spent the last decade trying to track you down and this is all you've got to say?" He looked down at the ground, back facing her. "Your lack of explanation still remains as shitty as ever."

"Luce." She repeated with a whispered hum. "I didn't forget you guys, y'know." She said, "Not for a second."

Natsu turned around, "Then _why_? Why are you here? Why did you leave? Who the fuck are you?"

"Oh maaan." A voice came from beside them. Both of their heads turned to the source, seeing a dark-skinned man approach. The stranger lifted his brows with a whistle, "You guys are scary." He chuckled, mroe men appearing behind him. "Didn't mean to interrupt your little lover's quarrel, but... we've got some business."

"What, Ren." Natsu hissed, disinterested.

Ren's grin grew wider, "Not you." His sights settled onto the beautiful blonde with the deadly gaze. "Lucy, is it?"

Lucy licked the bottoms of her teeth, "You friends with Minerva?"

Ren laughed instantly, "You're sharp."

"It's not hard to figure out." She said, looking at the number of grown gangsters behind him. "What? Here for revenge?"

"Somethin like that." Ren chuckled, pulling out a knife from the inside of his pocket. "There's other means of compensation," His eyes scrolled down her body then lingered over to the stone cold Natsu. "But lover boy over here is probably against that."

Lucy and Natsu didn't even look at each other. Both of their glares were narrowed onto the enemy before them. The blonde then sighed, "I'm going to level with you. I'm in an important conversation with a childhood friend that i haven't seen for a decade." Lucy stuffed her fingers in her pockets, "We both know your out of your element here. Save the humiliation and walk away boys."

Ren, however, didn't seem in the mood for talk. His hand lunged out and the blade swiped across Lucy's chest. The blonde bent backwards, missing the slice and her foot shot up so fast it sent the weapon flying. Natsu, then, reached up and grabbed the handle flipping it in his palm. He looked up to Ren, "Did you even see what she did to your girlfriend's face with her bare hands?" The pink-haired student threw the blade into Lucy's grip. "Wanna see what she'll do to yours with a knife?" He leaned against the wall, hands in pockets, "Cause I do."

The blonde was standing straight. Straight and powerful. Her stance alone showed her experience well enough. "Listen brats." Ren snickered, backing up, "Don't matter what steroids you're on. My men outnumber you 10 to 1."

"Have you ever been to the 12th district?" Lucy looked at her blade, her piercing brown eyes reflecting on the metal. No response. She moved the knife a bit, seeing Natsu fierce gaze in reflection. "Let's just say fighting 10 to 1," She tilted her head as her intense gaze settled onto them, "That's for Elementary kids." She snickered, throwing and flipping the blade repeatedly, "And I'm way past that."

"I'd say you come back another time boys." Natsu leaned off of the wall, stepping beside Lucy. His chin lifted, both shorter than any of them but seemed to stand taller than Gods. "I'm getting bored of this play date."

The men stood their ground but did not act. Their eyes slowly looked to Ren for orders and saw his expression was amused. He stepped backwards, "Alright." Ren turned around, snapping his fingers, "Minerva ain't worth a hard fight." He waved, "Hope we can play again soon. Next time I'll bring all my toys."

Lucy and Natsu watched them turn the corner and disappear. The air was silent again, containing only them both. The blonde dropped the knife, grimacing at its poor quality. "I guess there's nothing left to be said then." Natsu spoke.

Lucy stared at the ground, lacking a solid response.

Natsu licked his lips with a nod and then turned his feet. "Later." He said before walking away.

"You said you would tell me something if I reached my goal. 9 years ago you... you said that." Lucy said, stopping him in his tracks. She looked up, "What was it?"

Natsu stood there, back turned, cold wind blowing, silent.

He slowly turned around and walked toward her. Closer and closer, until their chests were nearly touching. He looked down at her but not in her eyes. His fingers traced through the long golden hair that was once completely cut off. "I don't know." He whispered.

Lucy's eyes lost its glow in that moment. The blonde looked down and nodded, "Me neither I guess." She moved past him, "Bye."

Natsu's hand shot out and grabbed onto her wrist. "Remind me." He said, "You have 9 years to make up for." He let go, "And you still need to prove you're the strongest." Natsu started walking the opposite way, "Until those goals are accomplished that promise is still under oath."

Lucy rubbed her wrist and looked down the dark alleyway until his salmon hair disappeared. She looked down to her hand and squeezed it into a fist, "Today," She put on her hood and started down the sidewalk, "There are 11."

. . .

It was a new day. But the Fairies felt like yesterday hadn't stopped. Lucy's sudden reappearance kept replaying in their heads. So much so that they all found themselves in class, silently staring into space. The whole school's chi was affected too. Nobody knew what was up, the natural flow of things just seemed... disturbed.

And it wasn't long till word got out about Fiore's new blonde bitch who was a highly suspected culprit of these abnormalities.

Minerva's seat was empty. Kids all over school were sneaking glimpses into the classroom to see if the rumors were true. And as soon as they saw the crack in the wood, their skin would crawl. It was the High School's new favorite topic.

What her relationship was with the Fairies was not known, except for a small few. And soon enough, those rumors would rise too.

Lucy Heartfilia.

The girl from the 12th district.

The ex-Fairy.

"Hey." A particularly handsome noirette spoke, seeing the shiny new blonde Fiore was buzzing about. Lucy was outside, leaned up against the brick wall, smoking a cigarette. Her eyes were rough and dark as they glared at the incoming male. He whistled, "You really _are _scary now. What happened to the old little Heartfilia?"

"Come here to pick a fight, Midnight?" Lucy looked away, sucking in more gray fumes. "Don't bother." She let out a burning breath, "You're also on my list."

The boy stopped a few inches away from her and pressed his back against the wall as well. "Second day and you're already skipping class?" He grinned, "Too afraid to face your childhood mates?"

"You should watch yourself." Lucy sighed, throwing the nicotine onto the ground. She squished it, stuffing her fingers into her hoodie's pockets. "The hair's grown back," Her eyes shined viciously through her hood. Like the gaze of a python. "But the memory is clear as day."

Midnight lifted his brows at the glare that could slice throats faster than any blade. A glare that held so much blood in its memory. "You could thank me." He grinned wider at her threats, "If that shit didn't traumatize you, you may still be the same dumbass crybaby from grade school-"

_SLAM._

Lucy flipped out a blade quick from her sleeve and dug it fast and deep into the wall milimeters from his cheek. So close he could almost feel the blade's slice. Snd in front of him held the un-wavered gaze of the blonde demon. Her face was cold and her movements were effortless. this was a girl with more experience in her pinkie than he had in his whole body.

"_Have a nice day_." She spoke in a sinfully dark tone before letting go of the knife's handle. Without much more, she turned and walked away.

"The bitch leaves for a few years..." Midnight let out a relieved sigh and looked at the glistening dagger that almost had his eye. "... And now she thinks she owns the school. Fuck." He shook his head and began walking away, "I need to get on whatever steroids she's on."

Natsu walked into the quiet classroom, all eyes glancing toward Minerva's empty seat and the pink-haired delinquent. He sat in front of the Fairies, all of their demeanors quiet and tense. Levy bit onto the eraser of her pencil, eyes red from lack of sleep and hair a mess from her clear overwhelming stress. "How did I not know..." She rolled through Lucy's school file, seeing all the delinquencies she's stacked onto her record since Middle School, "_Suspended for paralyzing a student and putting four more in critical condition!_" Levy nearly gasped, "This bitch... what the fuck happened?"

Natsu put his feet up on his desk and leaned back, staring at the ceiling with the same empty dark glow as he always had. "She's still Lucy." He said in a deep voice, smacking his gum, "This is what she promised us, ain't it?" Natsu grinned to himself a bit and looked forward, "She's pretty strong now."

"You think this is funny?" Erza hissed at the usually dead-pan male, "For a guy who went into a dead-pan state after the chick left, you'd think you'd be the most fucked up over this."

Natsu closed his eyes and sunk back down to a cold frown, "Yeah."

Then, the door opened.

And an ominous, overbearing presence walked in.

Lucy Heartfilia.

All conversations in the classroom halted as the blonde walked through like some type of underworld king. The blonde had a lollipop in her mouth, twisting it with her same dull glare. The Fairies stared hard. They wanted her to feel their incinerating gazes burn so hard, she had no choice but to cry out to them.

That was when her brown eyes looked down, to Natsu.

The two exchanged an intense glance before the pink-haired leader looked away to the window and Lucy sat down.

The Fairies sat with mouths agape. Now glaring at _Natsu_.

Gajeel slapped his salmon locks upside the head.

Natsu let out a vicious groan and looked forward to the pierced bastard with slitted eyes, ready to kill. "The fuck was that?" He whispered to try and avoid Lucy's hearing. But the blonde seemed more preoccupied on catching up on sleep.

Natsu glared at all of the anticipating fairies and then closed his eyes irritably, sinking into his seat. No response.

"Did you guys _talk_?" Levy hissed bitterly. "You better talk, Dragneel."

"Or what?" Natsu looked up to them, chin lifted. "Gonna beat me up, prez?"

Gajeel leaned forward, canine teeth flaring, "Wanna try all of us?"

Natsu let out a low snicker at their hostility. He folded his arms, "Instead of gossiping like a bunch of bitches." He slammed his fist hard back onto Lucy's desk, causing her brown eyes to open dangerously. "Ask her all this shit yourself."

The Fairies felt the air leave their lungs. Lucy was staring at them. Eye contact. Her brown, deadly eyes. Her brown, _familiar _eyes. The eyes of their long lost childhood friend.

"Still nothing?" Levy felt herself say in a shaky voice, doing everything in her power to keep her pent up emotion at bay. "Not a hello? Nice to fucking see you guys after 9 years of jack shit silence?"

Lucy kept her gaze still as it darkly focused onto Levy.

The golden-haired delinquent removed her feet from her desk and let out a long sigh. "Hello." She said, crossing her arms and leaning back.

They all nodded irritably. Gray let out a scoff, "Sorry but who the _fuck _are you again?"

"Gray." Mira hissed at his brutal tone.

"No." Laxus growled back at the white-haired peacekeeper. "Let's hear what the 12 district bitch has got to say."

Lucy eyes narrowed coldly onto Laxus and his aggressive composure. At _all _of their aggressive composures.

If one thing was for certain, Lucy wasn't the only one who got scarier these last 9 years.

Before she could open her mouth to speak, the classroom door opened, revealing their teacher. The Fairies did not remove their hard glares. Lucy looked to the faculty member who was watching her sharply. She let out a long sigh and ripped off a piece of the school property textbook on her desk. Her fingers flipped out a pen from her back, as though she was handling a blade, and she wrote down a few things before flicking it at Levy.

"Come over after school." She said, pulling her hood more over her head. "We'll talk there."

Levy looked down to the address and with one last threatening glance, she stuffed it into her pocket and they all slowly turned back around.

All they knew was that if there wasn't a batch of freshly baked cookies ready to greet them, they weren't sure how they were going to react to 9 years of unanswered questions.

. . .

The Fairies stood, stunned.

In front of them wasn't the lame shack they all remember spending their summers at. But instead a _palace_, a magnificent building that looked like it cost more than the city itself.

This street wasn't a normal, rich street. Nobody here was just _anything _let alone rich. No, those who made good livings had no business being within Fiore's borders.

This was Mob Row.

And at the tip of the street was where Fiore's Leader lived. The 10th District King. They could almost smell the blood and see Hell's gates opening from the afar mansion.

All the Fairies felt their bodies shrivel up in chills. This was a place they had been told since young not to step foot in. Yet here they were.

At Lucy Heartfilia's doorstep.

Two things they never thought they would ever do.

Natsu seemed the most calm out of them all. But for a guy who took down several mobs before his 14th birthday, that wasn't necessarily surprising.

Levy stepped forward to ring the doorbell, but the door was already opening before she pressed down.

There, their a-wall child-hood friend stood, leaned up against the massive barricade.

She looked at them, up and down and then turned, walking deeper into the kingdom.

The Fairies exchanged glances but then walked in, fists balled and glares cold.

The inside was no less extravagant. Chandeliers, marble floors, and maids. Lots of maids.

Lucy's footsteps led them to an enormous dining room. She sat at the head of the table and they scoped the wooden surface for chocolatey treats. But of course, nothing. Nothing but freshly waxed wood.

They all sat down, making sure to give their blonde hostess a cautioned and intense stare before sitting. Natsu seemed to grow a grin as he sat directly across from Lucy, feeling the threat seep from his gang like poison.

"You in the mob now?" Cana sipped her disguised juice box.

Their dark eyes radiated with anticipation at the question.

Lucy leaned forward, "You sure that's the question you want to start with?"

"No." An unsuspecting voice said. All eyes turned to Natsu, who was playing with a coin on the table. He tapped it onto the surface, tilted his head with a shadowed over stare. "How about we start from the beginning." He slammed the coin onto the surface, causing all but Lucy to flinch. "Why did you leave?"

Lucy's lips tugged into a fatal grin.

"Bankruptcy."

They all felt their bodies rumble with growls.

"That's a nice bankrupt chandelier you've got." Erza flicked her toothpick up, causing it to bounce off of the diamonds hanging above them.

"You know what, let's try this question." Levy leaned forward onto the table, fingers crossed and eyes merciless. Like the true Student Body President. "The girl sitting in that chair. What are we to her? Is she Lucy Heartfilia the _ex_-fairy?" Levy tilted her head, flicking her tongue, "Or is she still one of us?"

Lucy looked around the table.

They all held the same glare harbored with only her image in their daggers. She then looked across the table to Natsu. He moved his head to the other side, lifting his chin at her.

Lucy chuckled.

The Fairies were truly just _petrifying_.

But.

So was she.

* * *

**Eyyyyy.**

**4 months later. 5 months? I don't know. All I know is that all of you were anticipating this so much. The pressure was on. Seriously.**

**On another note, completely off topic. Soft Storm reached 1,000 followers. Crazy I know.**

**So in honor of that, I'm gifting you with a face-reveal on my twitter. It's the only thing I could think of? It's only gonna be for 24 hours so if you're reading this later, this is pretty pointless. Also I'm vain as fuck so take your gift as it comes. nsfw warning for kids who can't handle a little human anatomy. I have an artistic and rather open taste for photos (My real twitter is chalk full of them) so apologies if you hate bikini tops and cool necklaces and shorts and knee socks.**

**Okay back on topic, hope this chapter was worth waiting for. I rewrote it. I was originally gonna do this weird yet humorous thing where Natsu tells Lucy to fill this container full of cookies that he's kept since she left. And then she meets them at their old Elementary and argue there with a sweet ending. But i don't like sweet. So sorry. It's a complicated group of teens dealing with an even more complicated childhood friend. It's obviously not gonna smooth over so easy.**

**Also NALU.**

**Okay I have nothing left to say. Everything else will be updated eventually.**

**REVIEW PLZ IF U LOVE ME AND HATE HOW SLOW I UPDATE MKAY COOL LOVE YOU BYE.**

**~ Lovex1 (Twitter lovex1fanfic)**


	4. Chapter 4: Fairy has to Earn her Wings

CHAPTER 4

_The Fairy has to earn her Wings_

"_Listen," Jude paced toward his peeping daughter, worry spread across that bruised face. "Daddy... he has gotten involved with very bad people."_

"_... Bad people?" She repeated with a whimper, "B-But Natsu can protect us from bad people."_

"_Natsu." Layla hummed with a sad smile, "He's a good boy, Lucy."_

"_Yes, but," He intervened his wife's attempt at a lighter mood, "A boy couldn't possibly help us. No, Lucy, this is your father's duty."_

"_Ridiculous." Layla folded her arms, "You don't have the money! We need help. And following their-their negotiation or whatever the hell you wanna call it, right into their territory... Jude, this is a death wish."_

"_These were the terms. I don't have to money so I will work for it." He scoffed, turning away from his even more startled offspring. "These aren't thugs Layla. It's a business."_

"_They are thugs." Layla bit at him, "You're a thug. I am a thug. They are high-ranked thugs but still just dirty fucking thugs."_

"_Mom..." Tears strolled down Lucy's red cheeks._

_Layla's eyes widened and immediately softened, looking down to her teary-eyed daughter. "Ah." She bent down immediately and stroked her cheek, "We are going to be okay. But," She looked down with a sigh, "Daddy needs us to move for the time being, in order to... handle these bullies."_

"_You said fighting is bad." Lucy's lip quivered, "I... don't want to leave."_

"_Fighting is bad. Mommy and daddy won't be fighting." She tilted her head, "Daddy is too much of a deadbeat coward so things are just... complicated."_

"_That's nice Layla. Insult her father right to her face." Jude paced around the room, "Lucy, we are moving. That's all. Just go to your room."_

"_W-When?" Lucy hiccuped through her sobbing, "I... don't want to. I really don't want to."_

_Layla looked back to Jude who gave her a shrug. The woman looked back to the trembling child with a irritated exhale. "Probably tomorrow. The arrangements for us have already been prepared."_

"_Tomorrow?" Lucy's eyes swelled with a harder cry, "Mom... my friends. Mom!"_

_Layla flinched and averted her gaze, "I'm sorry, I really am, Lucy." She closed her eyes, "We'll come back. And..." She opened her gaze back to the blubbering kid with a smile, "We'll have a big house and you can invite all of your friends over to play."_

_Lucy nodded with a sniffle but could not subdue the tears._

Lucy folded her fingers over the table, staring at the group of teens who in her memories used to be so small. "I'm an ex-fairy." The blonde hummed her words, "That's an appropriate name isn't it? I was one of you and I left. But now I'm back." She looked to the shining wood beneath her fingers and tapped on it. "So... I suppose I have the same question. Do you still consider me one of you?"

The group leaned back in their chairs. They weren't amused by the testing cunt in that chair. And they were certainly not amused at how that question was difficult to answer.

"Lucy is a fairy." Levy spoke for them, "Not the mock image of her across from us."

Lucy lifted her brows, suspecting that answer. "So, what would this false Lucy need to do to become real again?" The blonde's lips sucked into a frown, "Should I have sat there yesterday? Would blubbering like a fool have amused you?"

"Are you gonna play that bullshit?" Gajeel leaned forward, leaning on his arm, "You gonna sit there and pretend we enjoyed watching you suffer?"

"No." Lucy snickered at the teen's _vicious _scowl. "Nice piercings you've got there."

Gajeel scrunched his face a bit at the comment. He folded his enormous biceps into his broad chest and leaned back. Lucy remembered his scrawny 8 year old body. She remembered all of their young physiques, now swelled into muscle made to kill and dominate.

They remembered Lucy's body too.

Skinnier, frailer, and far more delicate than any of theirs. Than anyone's.

And as she leaned forward, the muscle outlined of her shoulders made them lift their chins.

It was a drastic change.

It didn't feel like they were talking to their childhood friend at all.

Lucy was beautiful. Stunning, even. So much so that it was nearly baffling. But, she had this constant air about her. It was almost as though they could not trust her. Her. The girl they'd been waiting to meet again for so many years.

This, to put it simply, was not how they imagined their reunion.

Levy pushed herself from the table and came to a stand. Eyes scornful, "We are getting nowhere." She placed her fingers on the table and leaned forward, "This is your last chance to start handing out answers. Or consider yourself a 12 district target."

Lucy looked around as all of them came to a stand. All but Natsu. But surely the leader held the most intimidating of glares. He would not leave without answers like them. She was sure he'd probably choke them out of her if necessary.

The blonde licked the back of her teeth into a grin.

The _Fairies_.

They grew up... even more extraordinary than she originally expected.

"Why did I leave?" Lucy looked to her dancing fingers, "Why didn't I tell you? Who am I? Why didn't I contact you? What happened to me?" She leaned her cheek onto her shoulder and turned her eyes up to them, "Would knowing all these answers make everything suddenly normal again? Or are we just both wasting our time?"

"_Why did you leave_?" Laxus nearly spat through his teeth.

Lucy whistled at the scar on his eye, "Why do _you _have such a gnarly-lookin eye?"

"Bitch!" Erza slammed her fist onto the table, causing everything on top to bounce. "Just answer!"

Lucy slowly turned her head to that red hair, pigment as vibrant as it'd always been. The stare in Lucy's eyes was not one that made them pleased. She did not take any of them seriously. They did not pose much of a threat to her, just as she did not to them. It was as if it was equal grounds.

How?

How did Lucy turn into this?

"My dad," She rested her chin on her palm, "He got into trouble with the 12th district. Hence the move there."

"Explain." Natsu was slouched against the chair yet his shoulders remained tall. His fingers flicked the twirling coin between his hand toward the blonde.

Lucy stopped it with her pointer and held it there. She kept her sights on Natsu, direct, fearless, "I don't know the details of whatever agreement he made," She let out a sigh, moving her finger slightly back and forth, "All I know is we ended up living with a bunch of thugs and his Boss was the King."

"The King?" Levy slowly sat back down, "What King?"

Lucy slapped down the coin like a bug, "The 12th District King."

Silence.

They stared at her, drawing targets over her forehead.

"They have their own version of the Fairies there y'know." Lucy hummed, "Not quite a unified name, though. But most people called them the Celestials." She flicked the coin back to Natsu but he made no attempt to catch it. "I thought they were pretty scary but looks like you guys have held up well too, hm?"

Gray smacked his tongue, "So you're a 12th district lackey now?"

"If I was, why would I be here now?" Lucy matched his dirty stare, "_Gray_?"

"Exactly. Why?" Levy folded her fingers like the proper president she was. "Why the fuck are you here?"

The negative energy in the room surged at Lucy like a herd of pythons. But their showing fangs only excited her. "To show I've kept my promise." The blonde pushed herself back into her throne, "It seems you've all kept yours."

"That promise didn't involve you becoming a cunt." Gajeel hissed at her.

"I wouldn't say your attitudes are far off from mine." Lucy crossed her legs onto the dining table. "Anymore questions?"

"Would you answer them?" Natsu crossed his own legs onto the wood.

Lucy grinned, "Let's see-"

"Miss Lucy." A sweet voice chimed in from behind all of them. All vicious eyes latched onto the source of a round maid with a cart of sweets. The woman immediately cowered at all the slitted predators threatening to rip through her flesh. "Um..." She tilted her head from the ground to the young mistress, "I brought you-"

"No!" Lucy immediately fell out of the chair and stumbled into a run. She ran past the group of gangsters and blocked their sights of the impressive collection of cakes and cookies. Her face got close to the maids with a whisper, "I told you to save it for dinner."

"I know, miss." She whispered, not sure why they must keep their voices so low. "But I thought your friends may enjoy some. You were quite excited to see them yesterday."

"No... I wasn't." Lucy's voice cracked.

"Hm?" The maid blinked, bewildered, "Young miss, haven't you been waiting so long to see them again? You nearly cried when you were told you can come back."

Lucy looked down, shutting her eyes hard. The Fairies each looked to each other, absolutely baffled. And then stared back to that blonde head of hair whose ears were burning with a red blush. "Hey Lucy," Levy, severely amused, rested her smiling cheek onto her knuckles, "You didn't miss us by any chance, did you?"

Lucy rubbed her face to try and wipe of the scorching blush. "Wait! Wait go back outside!" The blonde turned to them with a pale face enflamed in embarrassment. An awkward display that nowhere matched the one they saw a minute ago. "Let's try this again!"

"She told me she did." Natsu said, bending down and picking up his coin. He grinned his sharp tooth at her, "I told you." He threw his coin at her and this time, Lucy wasn't quick enough to catch. "She's still Lucy."

"No..." Lucy covered her face with her fingers, "It's ruined."

"Ruined?" Erza rubbed her forehead, trying to keep up with this bipolar chick. "What act are you putting on? For who?"

The blonde slowly pulled her face down with her fingers and looked down to them, "I wanted... to look cool." She let out a long, defeated sigh, "I wanted to show you how strong I am now and maybe... I don't know... intimidate you a little."

They all blinked at Lucy and then bursted out in a huge bundle of laughter.

Lucy shrunk at their chuckles.

"Right." Levy wiped the tear from under her eye, "So what the fuck is this?" She shook her head, "Some bit? You were pretty convincing before. Take acting lessons or some shit?"

Lucy immediately rose at the semi-compliment and leaned back up against the carriage of treats. "You learn to develop it in the 12th district." She picked up a donut from behind her and chewed it, tilted her dark gaze from before, "It's almost like developing an accent. It's natural, it's all around you." She lifted her chin at them, "Pretty good, right?"

"And bashing a chick's face in, is that just the language for you 12th district veterans?" Gajeel leaned against the table.

Lucy folded her arms at their settling threat yet they were all still cautioned. "No." She licked her powdery fingers, "That's just a grudge."

"So what?" Levy leaned forward, "You gonna go around taking out everyone from back then?"

"That's the plan." She hummed, turning around to gather several cookies into her palm. Then turned around and munched. "Since intimidating you guys failed, looks like I'll just move down the to-do list."

"Those are kids of the 10th district." Levy crossed her legs, "Meaning anyone you, a 12th district transfer, fuck up is under my protection."

"So do you intend to find justice for Minerva too then?" Lucy said, stuffing another cookie in her mouth, "What about Angel? Pretty sure I knocked her into a coma."

Levy grinned at the attitude this new Lucy Heartfilia was trying to challenge her with. "That, I can oversee." The bluenette leaned back in her seat, "But if you want to continue down the list, I don't wanna smell 12th district on you."

"How do I do that?" Lucy wiped her crumbs off.

"You were a Fairy once." Levy said, "Prove that you still are."

"Prove I'm..." The blonde nodded forward slow and then pursed her lips into a confused pout, "... So is this an initiation?"

"Fairies, we're the highest pillar in this school and well, soon to be the district." Levy hummed, "So prove that you are the strongest and you can remove that 'ex' in front of fairy. Since you're not the same Lucy we remember, we'll treat you like a stranger until you can prove this version really is better than the childhood friend we grew up with."

Natsu stood up, "Listen," He got close to her, looking down. He was tall now. So tall. When they were kids they were about the same height. But Natsu, he just kept on growing. "Cut this tough shit out around us." He put his hand on her head and rubbed, "This Lucy is good enough."

"So we are just gonna... leave it here?" Laxus stood from his chair, "She's a raging cunt one moment and what? The same sweet tooth we remember the next?"

"I'm different." Lucy licked her fingers, "I have secrets now. And like a whole _bunch _of confidence and stuff. But," The blonde tilted her cheek onto her shoulder and they felt their hearts swell, "I think I'm still kind of the same. Well at least, I still suck at lying to you guys. I like the me now. I can't apologize for that."

Laxus stared at her. Really stared. And she just stared back, twice as fierce, feet dug twice as firm into her ground. And then he let out a sigh rubbing his face, "Yeah well, I don't forgive you yet." He walked toward Levy, Natsu and the bunched up Fairies. "But we still have a vacant spot waiting for you. So... like the prez said," He smiled at her, holding Mira shoulders with his arm, "Think of this as your initiation."

Lucy gave a stiff salute to the ever-glowing pack of Fairies. The next royalty of the Tenth District. "I'm..." She ground her teeth a bit, "I'm sorry."

"Save it." Gajeel patted her shoulder as the group walked towards the exit. "Save that for a better moment."

Lucy nodded and watched them disperse out the door.

Then...

_Shut._

Lucy slammed her back against the door and let out a long, long exhale. Then she stared forward and huge smile spread across her cheeks. And she skipped into a dance.

. . .

"So how exactly is she supposed to _prove _she's still 10th district?" Gajeel leaned back onto Levy's desk as the president was busy scraping through papers.

"That meeting was pretty anti-climatic." Mira rested her cheek onto her hand and tapped onto her desk.

"She doesn't expect us to forgive her right away." Natsu interjected. "I don't think she wants us to either." He tilted his head with a grin. A real, amused _grin_. The Fairies all lifted their brows. "Feels like this is really where our story starts."

"At least you're in a better mood. For godsake it's been what? 10 years since you smiled?" Laxus snickered, lightly punching his shoulder.

In the midst of their laughing, the room became silent. The Fairies joined in the quiet air with cautious glares. And at the door, there was Lucy, masked with that same spine-chilling sneer as yesterday. The blonde walked in, sparing none a glance but instead of her seat, she headed towards the front of the class.

Nobody said a word.

Lucy turned toward the black board and flipped out a dagger that came out of nowhere. With the most cringing, ear-shattering noise, she dug a single line into surface. Then two, then three until the whole class was covering their ears in agony. She stuffed the weapon back into her hoodie and slammed her foot onto the teacher's desk. Her body leaned forward toward the floor of students, enemies, allies, all of the above.

"So," She blew a huge bubble with that smug frown, "So we've all the rumor about the 12th district cunt by now right? Ex-fairy? Crybaby? Heard of it?" She cracked her neck to the side, "I've got a challenge for ya. That is if you 10th district ain't afraid of someone from 12th?"

"Speak." An obviously intrigued as well as provoked male from the crowd hissed.

Lucy licked the front of her top teeth into a grin, "I'm undergoing a sort of... test. To reclaim my spot as a Fairy. Now the rules are pretty tough. I need to prove I'm better than all of you sacks of shit but without initiating any fights." She slowly moved her foot back onto the ground and stuffed her hands into her hoodie's pocket. "So listen up, if any of you can beat me, you get my spot as a Fairy." She watched their eyes all widen with ambition. "Sounds pretty good right? What do you say prez?" Lucy lifted her brow at the group of Fairies, "Doesn't count if I don't throw the first punch right? Self-defense is in my rights."

Levy nodded slow with a grin, "There's 1,253 kids at this school, not including us. You sure you wanna take them all?"

"Excellent question Madame President." She bowed at her and then turned to the class, "For all of the chicken shits, I get it, don't wanna get your face all mashed up like Minerva's. So all you gotta do is come up to the board and carve your body count into this tally here. And when I've got all 1,253 of you marked up on this chalk," She tapped below the three digits, "This school will have itself a new Fairy."

The Fairies all eyed each other.

And then the class eyed the Fairies.

And then each other.

And then the phones started typing and the people started talking.

It wouldn't even take the end of class for the initiation to begin.

But the Fairies never guessed it would apply to the whole school.

* * *

**Heyo ~**

**Now listen, I'm not really 100% satisfied with this. So it's making me really nervous to post this. Regardless, I hadn't really any idea where the fuck I was taking this plot line. But now it has an actual plot line. Aka a goal. **

**So sorry if you're like wtf I wanted a heartless Lucy, she's still heartless but c'mon, they were NOT going to accept her back if she was just a cunt. Plus it'll be cute for her two have two personalities. Maybe I'm just twisted to find that quality amusing.**

**Anyway, here.**

**I'll mount heads if I see "Update soon" 3 days after I posted this.**

**Love you.**

**~Lovex1**


End file.
